eduskator

But why?

BCDrums

Some lab may have gotten a greater lifespan, but do real users on the real road? Did you get 4-5X?
For the convenience of not having to rotate chains, running a little crock pot and boiling wax; that is why. I glean that waxers enjoy the process, and that's great. But saving a few bucks is not a compelling argument to go through all that rigmarole. To me.

Racing Dan

Sure, but you have to re-wax 100 times and buy 20 quick links to get it there. Not to mention the faff to get started in the first place. - Ill buy you a beer if you ever get to 25.000km on one chain :-)

Koyote

I would think twice about $50 bar tape, but Silca makes some damn fine pumps. I just ordered my third from them. And I still might pull the trigger on some ti bottle cages one day.

scottfsmith

You should not necessarily take those ZFC chain lifetimes literally, they are including the fact that the chain runs through extreme contamination conditions. For dry road riding there is not much difference in chain lifetime between hot wax and one of the best drip lubes such as Silca SS. Those are the results at the end of block 3 in the table. They don't show Silca SS but its total % is 7.5% there.. almost the same as the Silca hot wax.

WhyFi

Again, not an apples-to-apples comparison. I don't care if what works for you is different than what works for me, but let's at least be honest about it. The following isn't really for you, I don't believe that you're open-minded enough to benefit, but this is a good jumping off point for those that might be interested in a realistic picture of what waxing entails.

Hands-on time:

• I ride most days, we'll say 6 days per week, on average. 5.5 of those days, I do exactly zero maintenance with my drivetrain - no wiping, no lubing, no nothing.
• Once a month or so, I'll batch wax my chains. This involves plugging in the crockpot (Chain 1 is already in there) and setting a timer for 1hr 20 min. When the timer goes off, I swish the chain, hang it, swish the quick link, hang it, pull Chain 2 off of the bike, plop it in and then swish and hang 15 minutes later (when the wax/chain have come back up to temp). I'll break the links of Chain 1 and put it back on the bike so that it's ready to roll. Total time is a couple of hours, but hands-on time is 5 minutes or so.
• About two weeks later - so again, once per month or so - I'll swap to Chain 2 (putting Chain 1 in the cold Crockpot to sit there until the next batch wax). This takes maybe 90 seconds.
• Once every ~1.5 years, I'll strip two new chains. This takes about an hour of hands-on time and is, by far, the least pleasant part of the process.
• I'll eventually have to dispose of the used OMS and DNA but we, as a household, usually do a county drop-off of hazardous/special recyclable materials once every 3 years or so, and this'll get lumped in with that.
• There is no chain wiping, cassette degreasing or flossing, jockey wheel scraping or chainring cleaning, ever - this stuff was probably what I disliked most about wet lubes. For those that ride on rainbows that don't have grit and grime, I envy you.

Recurring costs:

• $20 worth of Molten Speed Wax lasts me 2-3 years.
• <$20 for 1gal OMS - this'll probably last me 4+ years
• <$10 for 1qt DNA - again, 4+ years

One time expense:

• The Crockpot was $12 at Target

*In whole,* this is definitely saves me time and money, though neither is a hugely significant factor in my book. More importantly to me is that it is far more convenient and less icky than my experience with wet lubes. YMMV.

seypat

Have we discussed dry lubes such as this one yet?

https://blasterproducts.com/product/...dry-lubricant/

Polaris OBark

Looks ok for a lock that is sticking.

I wouldn't get it anywhere near a bike.

seypat

https://bikerumor.com/best-bike-chain-lubes/

Polaris OBark

Well, we made it to page 7 without someone telling us how great chainsaw bar oil is.

WhyFi

I put something similar on my Speedplay cleats, but that's about it.

Polaris OBark

Advertisements disguised as "journalism."

Click on the links to the products to generate revenue for bike rumor.

seypat

I forgot to post this for you.

https://www.tvh.com/blog/lubrication...chain-our-tips

easyupbug 

Thanks WhyFi, on bad arthritis days I now ride a recumbent trike and the new to me threading chains through tubes, long chain, etc. and your post above have convinced me to switch.

sshakari

for the pump I have the Silca Tattico Mini Pump which is around $70.
The saddle bag is the bomb!

seypat

Did you say you ride a bent? Hopefully, you're not a doppelganger/sock of another BF member.

Branko D

With Squirt, my chains lasted about 6500km before I'd have a big event coming up and would bin the chain despite it still being within spec, using Dura-ace 11 speed chains. I'd just like to go to the signature event of the year with a fresh chain and everything in tip top shape.
​​​​​​
UFO lube and Silca does better in testing than Squirt and are cleaner (Squirt tends to form black gunk) so the chains should last longer still, all that with the convenience of a drip on lube. If I had more time, maybe I'd start waxing but... eh.
​​​​

Litespud

Sure, I could hook the chain off with a stick or whatever, but sh1t happens. Conditions at the side of the road aren't always ideal

tomato coupe

Do you have something other than a normal 1x or 2x road setup?

Litespud

Nope - standard 2x

seypat

Disposable gloves in the tool kit for the win?

tomato coupe

If it’s a standard 2x setup (with very dropouts), then you should be able to remove the wheel without touching the chain.

Litespud

I do carry a pair of nitrile disposable gloves in my saddlebag. Their main function seems to be to stop the pair of CO2 cartridges clacking off each other, and any time I don't have to use them is something else that doesn't needlessly go into a landfill. I also have 10 perfectly good fingers, and while I understand that I can use a pair of gloves or finagle the wheel in and out of the frame while studiously avoiding touching anything, having a clean waxed drivetrain means that I can simply use those fingers to quickly and easily do stuff and not have filthy fingers afterward. I'm not evangelizing any particular lube approach, nor do I give a crap how others deal with this clearly thorny issue, I simply added my experience with waxing as a data point to the thread, describing the advantages as they apply to me.

genejockey 

So, you've apparently been doing it WRONG for 4 decades. It's a wonder your chains didn't asplode.

BCDrums

None taken!